Picture Box
by IndeMaat
Summary: Tosh is monitoring emergency phone lines and picks up a report for a familiar alien.
1. Saturday

_A/N: Set before Torchwood episode Everything Changes. _

-oOo-

A used goods store in Cardiff.

A man in his late forties enters the back room from the outside. He carries in an old TV set. He puts the TV on the workbench and wipes the sweat off his forehead. He stuffs his handkerchief back in his trouser pocket. He grabs the cord of the TV and looks at the plug.

"Need to change that." He grabs some tools and sets to work.

Wiping his hands on his handkerchief he calls out to a person in the front of the store: "Luce, hey Lucy, could you come back here for a moment?"

A sixteen year old brown haired girl answers his call.

"What do you think this is?"

Lucy gives him a look. "A TV?"

"Yes, but not any TV. This very model was one of the most popular sets at the time of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth."

"The First?"

"The Second." He gives her a wary look.

"George, need I remind you that this is a second hand goods shop, not an antiques shop?"

George rolls his eyes up at the ceiling and sighs.

"Does it still work?"

"We don't know that till we've tried it, will we? Will you do the honor of plugging it in?"

"Have you changed the plug? You know they've changed the plugs since the conception of this thing?"

"Yes, little miss know-it-all, I have changed it. Now, you plug it in so we can see if we can get a picture."

Lucy walks over to the workbench and takes the extension cord in her hand. She turns back to George. "I feel this is an historic moment. I think perhaps a little speech to mark the occasion is in order. George?"

"Plug that TV in or I'll find someone else to work for me on Saturdays."

"Very touching." Lucy turns around and quickly plugs the TV in.

The TV starts to crackle. George gives Lucy a big grin. "It's working." Then purple tendrils crackling with electricity lash out from the TV and grab George by the head.

"George!" Lucy screams. She rushes over to him.

"Turn. It. Off." George manages to groan.

Lucy turns back to the TV and yanks the plug from the wall. The purple tendrils release George and he falls to the ground on his side.

"George." Lucy rushes over to him and drops on her knees next to him. She tries to feel his throat for a pulse. She rolls George over and sees that his face is gone. Lucy screams.

-oOo-

Jack enters the front office of Torchwood Cardiff followed by Owen and Suzie.

"Ianto. Take this, clean it up and then put it in storage." Jack gives Ianto a slime covered weapon.

Ianto takes it with a hint of disgust on his face. He tries to hold on to it with minimal amount of skin touching the slime. "I'll see to it that it gets cleaned. How did you manage to catch it?"

"Don't ask." Suzie says. She's covered head to toe in the same slime.

"Oh, yeah. Ianto, the backseat of the SUV also needs to be cleaned," Jack adds.

"I'll get right to it. Anything else?"

"Coffee?" Jack shrugs.

Owen leans over the desk and presses the button to open the door that leads to the hub. Down in the hub Suzie rushes over to the dressing rooms to take a shower and wash the slime off her. Jack just washes his hands and puts on a clean shirt. When he returns to the hub he finds Tosh sitting behind her desk and Owen standing behind her. They are listening to a distressed sounding voice of a young woman.

"Please, this is not a prank call. You have to help. You have to send an ambulance."

"What is this?" Jack asks.

"Oh." Tosh turns the volume down. "I thought we could monitor alien activities by tracking the calls made to the emergency telephone numbers. Everything weird or unusual or listed as a prank by the operators gets put through to us."

"Sounds good. And that call we were listening to?"

"A girl called for an ambulance after her boss was electrocuted by a TV."

"Doesn't sound too weird."

"According to her," Owen says, "it happened while he was standing eight feet away from the set."

"That's more our kind of weird," Jack agrees.

"And then there's this." Tosh taps some keys on her keyboard to replay the emergency call. "When her boss fell to the ground his face was gone."

"The TV took his face?" Jack asks.

"That's what she says."

They listen to the whole recording.

"When was this call made?"

"Just a moment ago," Tosh replies.

"Owen, you're with me." Jack heads towards the exit shouting instructions. "Tosh, go through the database and try to find out as much as you can about face-eating TVs."

-oOo-

Lucy is sitting on a chair in the second hand shop. Her arms rest on one of the dining room tables. She holds the phone in her hand. "Why won't you help us?" she cries. "It took George's face."

The shop bell rings. Lucy wipes the tears from her face and gets up. "I'm sorry. We're closed."

"You're Lucy Yates?" Owen asks. "You just made a 999 call? Something's happened to your boss?"

Lucy doesn't reply. She just stares at them. At Jack more particular.

Owen waves a hand before her eyes. She doesn't blink. Owen turns his head to look at Jack. "Great," he mutters. He puts the black case he is carrying on the table. He takes a penlight from his inside pocket and walks over to Lucy. He lifts one of her eyelids and shines the light in her eye.

"Pupil reaction normal. She's not in shock. She's just not talking to us." Owen switches off the penlight and returns it to his pocket. "C'mon, sweetheart, we're good people you can talk to us."

"Da."

"Congratulations. You just said your first word. Though most kiddies start with dada, so you may have to work on that a bit."

"Owen."

Owen glances over his shoulder at Jack. "I'll check the victim. Perhaps he's more talkative." He picks up the black case. "Where can I find him?"

Lucy nods faintly to the door in the back on the shop. Owen follows her directions. Lucy continues staring at Jack.

"What's your name?" Jack asks.

"Lucy." Lucy says after swallowing.

"Hi, Lucy. I'm Jack. Can you tell me what's happened here?"

Lucy looks over her shoulder at the back door. She starts to cry again. Jack leads her to an armchair and makes her sit down. He sits down opposite of her on a coffee table.

"I'm sorry, but I can't offer you a tissue. I'd offer you my sleeve, but a great coat is made of a coarse material. Not nice to blow your nose on that."

"That's all right." Lucy smiles through her tears and tries to wipe them away with her hands and shirt sleeve.

"That's better." Jack gives her an encouraging smile. "Now, tell me what happened before you made the emergency call."

"George had brought in an old TV set. You see, this is a second hand shop, and ..." Lucy waves her hand around. "Well, as you can see it's mainly furniture and clothes, sometimes fridges and a stove. George likes to bring in old computers and TVs and tinker with them; see if he can make 'm work again. Today he brought in a TV that must have been a hundred years old. People watched the Coronation on that, he said." Lucy stops talking and looks at the back door.

"And he thought he could make that work again?" Jack asks drawing her attention back to him.

"Yeah. He changed the plug and asked me to plug it in."

"Did it work?"

"It started crackling. George smiled; he thought it worked. Then these purple beams jumped from the TV and grabbed him. I didn't know what to do. I unplugged the TV and these beams let go of George, but they had taken his face. That's not normal, is it?" Lucy looks up at Jack.

"Doesn't sound normal."

"But that's what happened. You have to believe me. It really took his face."

"I believe you. Just because it isn't normal doesn't mean it's impossible."

"I guess."

"I have to take a look at George. Will you be all right here?"

Lucy nods. Jack gets up to go to the back room.

In the back room Owen is kneeling down by the faceless George. Owen has a puzzled look on his face. He doesn't look up as Jack walks in. Owen acknowledges his presence by talking to him.

"Well, he's alive, but I don't know how. His face is all gone: eyes, lips, nostrils. I haven't seen a complete removal of facial features since I used to watch _the Muppet Show._"

"And that's the TV that took his face." They both look at the TV. "Looks pretty harmless right now."

Owen shrugs. "I can't think of anything else that could have taken his face. Might as well be the TV."

"But you can give him back his face?"

Owen and Jack turn to Lucy who stands in the doorway.

Owen gets up. "I don't know if that's possible." He gestures to George. "We'll have to take him with us. And the TV too."

Lucy nods and tries to smile. "But you'll make him better? You'll try to make him better?"

"I can't make any promises."

-oOo-

Jack puts the TV set down at Suzie's work station. He climbs the stairs to the computer work stations where Tosh and Suzie are. In passing he hands his coat to Ianto.

"What have you got?" He crosses his arms as he stands behind Tosh.

"I found one incident of TVs that took the faces of people," Tosh replies. "It was in the old Torchwood One files, but they didn't investigate this case themselves." She nods at one of the screens. "London Police managed to keep this to themselves for quite a long time. It started in early May 1953 in the Muswell Hill area of London. People started losing their faces. The police were at a loss what to do. They just rounded them up and put them in a cage hoping the matter would sort itself."

"Completely gone," Suzie says leaning closer to a photograph of faceless people in a cage. "You can't even tell whether they were men or women from looking at their faces, or their ages. That blond with the petticoat, how old would she have been? A teen getting ready for a party? Such a teen's mum following the same fashion?"

"Did it sort itself out?" Jack asks. "What was it?"

"According to the report it was an alien that called itself the Wire," Tosh replies. "Through people's TVs it was feeding on human energy. Leaving the humans faceless in the process."

"Like what has happened to George."

"It sounds like it. But this Wire was defeated. The details of it are missing, but apparently it got trapped on a videocassette. The victims got their faces back."

"So it could be this Wire again," Suzie concludes. "Where did the videocassette go? Did Torchwood One take it?"

"No, I don't think so. It doesn't say. These are only eye-witness accounts. None of these people had the videocassette."

"And knowing Torchwood One, they would have looked for it," Jack says.

"That means someone else's still got it. I could try to run a trace on that TV." Tosh starts tapping keys on her keyboard. "Track it back where it came from. Somewhere along that line, it probably intersects with the videocassette."

"I don't think you're going to find it that way," Jack says calmly. "Videocassettes weren't invented yet in 1953."

"Then how ...?" Toshiko turns to him.

"Probably another alien has it. And we're not going to find it that way."

"But if this alien has released the Wire again, we have to find it. Before it makes more victims. It's the best lead we've got. It's the only lead we've got."

Jack nods. Tosh turns back to her screen.

"Perhaps this alien didn't release the Wire again, but part of the Wire was still stuck in the TV," Suzie suggests. "And if that alien could catch the Wire, then we can do too." She smiles. "Where is the victim? Maybe I can work out what the Wire did if I see him."

"Owen took him to the Autopsy Pit."

-oOo-

A few moments later Suzie, Jack and Ianto are looking down on Owen and George in the Autopsy Pit. George is sitting on the examination bed. His shirt is open. Wires attach him to a monitor. Owen is standing next to him in his white scrubs.

"As you can see," Owen points to the monitor, "George here has hardly a heart rate and very little brain activity. Whatever it was that took his face, it also seems to have taken most of his neurological energy and left him with minimal resources. Such as clenching his hands." Owen lifts up one of George's hands to show the others George is continuously clenching and unclenching his hands. "And the most basic of reflexes." He hits George with a small medical hammer underneath the knee cap of his right leg. A moment later George's leg kicks up a little. "But his reflexes are delayed and not as prominent as they should be. If I were to hold a flame by his hand he would not pull his hand back."

"You've tried that?" Suzie asks.

"Uh, yes, I have. I'm a scientist. I don't make claims I haven't tested." He gives her a cheeky grin. Ianto coughs lightly. "Right. That's all I can tell you. Don't know what took his face. Don't know how it took his face, and I also don't know how it can be returned to him." Owen turns to George and starts to remove the electrodes.

"What if we can reverse the process?" Suzie suggests. "I don't know. Hit him with another dose of whatever came out of that TV, and maybe they'll give him back his face."

Owen gives her a look over his shoulder. "Are you referring to the common misconception brought on by slapstick films that someone can get his memory back by whacking him over the head again? That doesn't work in real life, and you could give someone serious brain damage that way. Another dose of that TV and George is probably going to lose something else he'd like back."

"How do you know he hasn't lost that already?" Jack asks.

Owen just raises an eye brow at him. "While Suzie tries to think of a better way of curing George than exposing him to the same pathogen, where can I put him? He can't stay here; he'd be in the way."

"Take him to one of the holding cells. I doubt he's going to be bothered about the lack of ambiance."

"I think I will first try to find out what's inside that TV," Suzie says. "And then how that came out and took George's face. It's probably best if I set up for that in one of the lower level storage rooms. I don't want any of us getting accidentally hit by whatever this is. We're not using most of the storage rooms anyway." She directs her last remark at Ianto.

"Uh. No?"

"You should know. You're in charge of internal logistics." Suzie turns around. "I'll go and set up."

"I'll help you." Ianto quickly follows her.

"Tell George to watch his step when you take him down to the cells," Jack says to Owen before he returns to his office.

-oOo-

Each holding on to one end of the TV Suzie and Ianto slowly proceed through the corridor.

"How about here." Suzie nods at the nearest door.

"I think that one is locked and I haven't got the key on me," Ianto replies. "Better take that one over there. At least I know that one's open." He nods at the door that stands ajar.

Suzie pushes the door open further with her heel and they shuffle past it into the storage space. They put the TV down on the floor. Ianto switches on the light and they look around.

"Well, at least there's plenty of room. We've got power, and there's a workbench so I won't put my back out. All I need is my computer and my instruments." She quickly heads out the door.

Ianto straightens his jacket and follows at a slower pace.

-oOo-

Lucy is standing by the window of her attic room. She overlooks the street and the terraced houses on the other side. She holds a picture frame in one hand and plays with the little metal bit that keeps the back of the picture frame in place. She finally decides to open the frame and takes out two pictures. The top one is of Lucy and a woman in her early fifties, her mother, sitting on a garden swing together. The other picture shows the same woman but about fifteen years younger. It is taken form very up close and only shows her smiling face and that of a man: Jack.

Lucy leans against the window sill and stares at the picture.

"Are you my dad?"

The smiling faces don't reply.

"Luce? Lucy, are you home?"

Lucy quickly turns her head to the door. "Just a minute, Mam." She returns the pictures to the frame and puts the frame face down on her desk before heading out the door.

Lucy hurries down the stairs, but stalls at the before last step. Her mother is in the hallway putting on her coat. Lucy leans against the banister.

"I thought I heard you come in earlier," her mother says. "Why didn't you come in and say hi?"

Lucy shrugs.

"How was work today?"

"George brought in a TV that ate his face," Lucy says without emotion.

Her mother gives her a curious look and then turns to the mirror to comb down a few stray hairs.

"And my father came into the shop." Lucy studies her mother's back but can't discern any signals of initial shock. "Or at least, a guy came in that looked just like that guy in the picture you said was my dad."

Lucy's mother slowly turns around. "That's not likely. He should look at least seventeen years older."

"Perhaps it was his younger brother."

"Did you talk to him?"

"A bit. He said his name was Jack."

Her mother musters up a smile and changes the subject. "I'm going to have a girls' night out with Elly and Sarah. So, don't wait up for us. Are you going out tonight?"

"Don't think so. Probably just watch some telly."

"I've made you a salad. It's in the fridge." She pulls on Lucy's arm to make her come down the last steps. She brushes her daughter's hair behind her shoulder. "Don't fret too much about that man you saw at the shop. It was probably just the bad light that made him look like Jack."

"I guess."

"Now, give us a kiss." Lucy kisses the cheek that is proffered to her. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Have fun." Lucy waves at her mother as she heads out of the door. Lucy walks into the living room and flops down on the sofa. She reaches for the remote, but stops when she thinks of what has happened earlier in the afternoon.


	2. Sunday

Suzie has left the TV in the middle of the floor, its screen facing the door. She's sitting behind it on a stool a notebook computer on her lap. Her fingers move quickly over the keys. She's monitoring the electrical activity of the TV. She is intrigued. There is a little activity, too much to go down as white noise, at least for a TV that isn't even plugged in. 

Ianto has helped her to put up a safety screen between her position and the TV. With her foot Suzie flicks the switch on the extension cord. She hears the TV make a little poof sound as it switches on. The graphs on the computer screen get excited. The TV shows much more activity than any ordinary TV should show. Or at least as Suzie's TV did the previous night when she tested her experimental set up. Suzie smiles as it increases. She hears a ceramic mug crash to the floor. She looks up disturbed.

"Shit, Ianto." Suzie quickly switches off the TV by flicking the switch on the extension cord. The purple tendrils let go of Ianto's head when they pull back into the TV. Suzie puts her notebook on the stool and rushes over to Ianto.

Ianto stands in the door opening. A puddle of coffee and a broken coffee mug lie at his feet. Ianto's face is gone.

Suzie grabs her mobile from her pocket and uses speed dial. "Jack? I've got a problem."

-oOo-

Jack holds onto Ianto's head with both of his heads and studies his face, or what used to be his face, minutely. Suzie stands next to him, nervously shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't hear him knock or open the door. The TV just lashed out at him. I should have put a sign on the door: Experiment in progress."

"It's a little late for that, isn't it?" Jack snaps without looking at her. "I doubt Ianto is going to find much consolation in that."

"Do you think he can hear us?"

"I don't know. He doesn't respond to anything we say."

"Neither do coma patients, but it's important that people keep talking to them."

Jack lets go of Ianto's head and is about to make a snide remark, but changes his mind and swallows his comment.

"Jack." Tosh sticks her head around the door.

"Why is everyone working here on a Sunday?"

"Owen isn't in," Tosh replies as she walks in. "Oh, what happened to Ianto?"

"Same thing as happened to George: too much television. What do you want?"

Tosh tears her eyes away from Ianto to look at Jack. "In those reports I found it said that the two people instrumental in capturing the Wire were a young man named Thomas Connelly and a certain doctor. I've tracked down this Thomas Connelly. He lives only a few hours drive away. I thought I could pay him a visit and ask him if he remembers anything that can be of help to us." She turns her eyes back to Ianto.

"Sounds good. I think you should do that," Jack replies.

"And there was another call from that girl that first reported George to the emergency number."

"Someone else lost their face?" Suzie asks.

"No, I think she just has another TV."

"Okay, I'm on that," Jack says. He grabs Tosh by the shoulders and ushers her out of the storage room. "And you." He points at Suzie. "Fix this." He points at Ianto.

Suzie nods.

-oOo-

The first thing Suzie decides to after Jack has left with Ianto is to move the safety screen so it shields off the door opening. She will be on the hall way side of the screen while conducting her experiments; the TV will be in the room and with any luck the screen will prevent the Wire from reaching into the hall way. It does not take her long to move all her equipment out of the room. Moving the screen in place is a little harder on her own, but she manages.

With the TV facing the safety screen Suzie sits down on her stool and sets to work. The background noise of the TV seems to have increased. Because the TV absorbed Ianto's neurological energy? Suzie is fascinated. An alien life form that consumes neurological energy and has lodged itself in a TV. She flicks the switch on the extention cord to find out if the signal will also be increased with the TV switched on.

Suzie smiles when the graphs on her notebook screen excite more than before. She looks up and sees purple tendrils lash out from the TV. They bounce off against the safety screen. The tendrils retract.

"Ooh, nasty." The face of a man appears on the TV screen.

Suzie jumps up holding on to her notebook with one hand. "The Wire?"

"None other. Have we met? I don't recall you."

"We've never met. Is that George's face you are using?"

"Oh, I don't know. It's one of those faces I found along the way."

"A face you found. That's a good one." Suzie chuckles. "How come you've been trapped in a TV for over fifty years?"

"Fifty years?" The Wire looks shocked, but quickly changes his expression to annoyed. "That fool Magpie. He must have unplugged this set when I was exploring. I will have to deal with him later, after I have found the rest of me."

"You've already dealt with him. He's dead."

"Good for me." The Wire cheers up.

"And you were also dealt with. The little bit of you that Magpie cut off is the only part of you that is left."

"Oh dear." The tendrils lash out again and again bounce off of the safety screen. "You're not being very helpful," the Wire pouts.

"I have no intention to be helpful."

"Oh, but if you help me, I can help you."

"I doubt that. You're an electrical entity trapped in a TV. You have nothing to offer that I want."

"But I know what you want. You want power."

"Everyone wants power."

"I don't." Ianto's face appears on the TV screen.

This startles Suzie for a moment. She puts the notebook down on the stool and walks over to the screen. She studies Ianto's face for a moment. "What have you done to Ianto?"

"I was hungry. I ate him." The face changes back to George's. "Perhaps I shouldn't have. He would have been more helpful."

"I doubt that."

The Wire smirks. "No, I'm certain. I would have made him an offer he just could not refuse. I guess there are things you don't know. Alas, what done is done." The Wire yawns.

"There are some things that I do know." Suzie looks grim. "One is that you were defeated once. That makes it likely that you can be defeated again. And I will be the one to do it."

"Aw, such hostility towards little me trapped in a TV."

Suzie jumps forward and unplugs the extension cord. As she does this a spark jumps. Suzie rubs her hand where it hit. She looks at the TV screen. The picture is gone.

-oOo-

Lucy sits on the counter of the used goods store. Next to her stands a TV similar to the one George brought in a day earlier.

The little bell jingles as Jack enters. "It says on the door you aren't open on Sundays." He nods to the door before he closes it.

"Today is special."

"You called the emergency number to say you had another TV. You know, you shouldn't call that number unless there is an emergency." Jack crosses the floor towards the counter.

"I didn't know how else to contact you."

"Is that the TV?"

"Yeah. Do you know a woman named Helen Yates?" Lucy quickly asks.

Jack stops in his tracks. "Can't say that I do."

"She's my mam."

"Ah."

"She has a picture of her and a guy who looks just like you." Lucy looks straight at Jack, but his face is as uninformative as that of her mother earlier.

"You think that might be me?"

"She says it's my dad."

"Oh. I don't know a Helen Yates. So, I don't think I'm your dad. I'm sorry." Jack gives Lucy a half smile.

"That's okay." She jumps off the counter. "It was a long shot anyway." She looks disappointed.

"Now, about that TV." Jack nods to the TV and comes closer.

"Right. Fifty quid."

"What?"

"Fifty pounds. I had to make some expenses to get it here and I'd like to be reimbursed."

Jack gives Lucy a stern look. She doesn't flinch. He smiles as he grabs for his wallet. "Do you look like your mom?"

"A bit. A lot. I don't see the resemblance much." Lucy pockets the money. "I look like the pictures of her as a teen."

"I don't think I've seen the face before either."

"She was much older when she had me."

"I'm sorry." Jack puts the TV's extension cord on top of the set. "Now, does that fifty quid also include getting the door for me, or do I need to pay extra for that?"

"I'll get the door." Lucy hurries over to the shop door to hold it open.

Jack picks up the TV and follows her. "And the door to the SUV."

-oOo-

"Mr Connelly? I'm Toshiko Sato. We talked on the phone this morning," Tosh says to the man that opens the door.

"Yes, yes. You wanted to talk to me about the events of the Coronation in Muswell Hill. Come in, come in."

Tosh steps past Mr Connelly and he closes the door behind her.

"Would you like a cup of tea? I've just put the kettle on."

"Yes, please." Tosh follows Mr Conely to the kitchen where he ushers her to a seat. She takes a biscuit from the tray he holds out to her.

"My mother always told me to make guests feel welcome."

"Thank you." She takes a bite from the biscuit.

Thomas Connelly turns to the counter and starts rinsing off the teapot. "I must say that I'm a little surprised you called. The Coronation was over fifty years ago. It would have been a much more interesting story for the golden jubilee."

"Mr Connelly ..."

"Please, call me Tommy."

"Tommy. I'm sorry, but I've lead you on a bit." Tosh holds a hand before her mouth so she doesn't spray biscuit crumbs all over the kitchen table. "I don't want to talk about how you celebrated the Coronation. I want to talk about what happened before the Coronation. The Wire?"

"The Wire." Tommy puts the teapot down and takes a seat as well. "I haven't thought about her in years. She caused quite a bit of trouble."

"That's what I want to talk to you about. How did you stop her?"

"Oh, I didn't stop her. The Doctor did that. I helped a bit. But why do you want to know? She's gone."

"We think she may be back. Or another alien like her."

"Oh dear." Tommy clasps a hand over his mouth. "I was just a boy then. It was horrible. People used to watch telly and then the Wire would feed on them, leave them faceless. It happened to my gran. It was horrible."

Tosh gets up to finish making the tea.

"It happened all over the street. The police would come and take these people away. And everyone went on as if nothing had happened. Then the Doctor came. He quickly figured out what was going on and how to defeat the Wire. Thank you." Tommy takes the cup of tea Tosh offers him by the saucer.

Tosh sits back down. "Tell me more about this doctor. Where can I find him?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen him since the Coronation. He was only in Muswell Hill for a few days. Like Caesar he came, he saw and he conquered."

Tosh musters up a smile but disappointment is clearly written on her face.

"How many victims are there?" Tommy asks after taking a sip from his tea.

"Two so far." Tosh cradles her cup. "And we're a bit at a loss as to how to solve this problem. I thought talking to you might give us some clues for the solution."

"Perhaps I can help after all." Tommy puts his cup down. "Come with me."

They go up the stairs to the first floor landing. Tommy pulls on the cord to lower the ladder to the attic. "The Doctor said the Wire was feeding on people by transmitting herself. So he figured he could catch her with a receiver. And he did. Years ago I tried to make a copy of that device. It should still be in the attic. Could you fetch it? My legs are a bit too stiff to get up that ladder anymore."

"Sure." Tosh climbs up the attic.

"It's in a box marked _Tom's foolery_." Tommy chuckles. "Well, it was."

Tosh puts the box down on the landing. Tommy quickly opens it and rummages through it.

"This is it." He holds up a metal case about the size of a shoe box. "Hours I used to tinker on this thing. Well, every man needs a hobby and I never cared much for fishing." He opens the box to show Tosh how it works. "Of course I don't know whether it works in practice. I never got a chance to test it."

"Can I borrow it? I will of course return it undamaged, or at least repaired."

"You can keep it." Tommy closes the box and gives it to her. "Just let me know if it actually worked. Now, could I bother you again and ask you to take this box back up the attic?"

"Of course." Tosh smiles pleasantly.

-oOo-

When Tosh arrives back at Hub she quickly rushes down to the basement storage rooms carry Tommy's box under her arm. On the stairs she runs into Jack.

"How's Ianto?"

"The same, but he and George seem to be bonding. They have a lot in common. You, any luck?"

"Did that girl have another TV?"

"She did. Please tell me you also got some information back that can actually be useful to us."

"Oh, that TV is also useful. From what Tommy told me I think it's best if we try to gather all the old TVs that have been infected with the Wire."

"I'll get Owen right on it."

"Tommy gave me this device. It's a copy of the device that was used to catch the Wire. Suzie and I will analyse how it works, and then we'll give Ianto his face back. I hope."

"Sounds good. Up to the 'I hope' part."

"I'm sorry. I can't give any guarantees. I don't even know how it works yet."

"Then get working on it."

"Right away." Tosh rushes down the stairs to go to Suzie, while Jack continues his way up the stairs.

-oOo-

Suzie and Tosh are working in the storage room. Tosh has explained what Tommy's box is supposed to do. Together they are analysing whether it would also be possible in practice.

Suzie takes a few steps back and stumbles over the extension cord. "Oops. I think I just accidentally turned on the TV."

Tosh doesn't look up and Suzie looks annoyed when nothing happens.

"Not to worry," Tosh says as she reaches for a screwdriver. "I've taken this part of the building off the electricity grid. Just to be sure no accidents would happen." She briefly glances at Suzie then returns her attention to Tommy's box.

"Good thinking." Suzie smiles lightly. She looks down at her hand as she rubs fingers and thumb together. A spark jumps when she pulls them apart.

-oOo-

Owen slams the door of the SUV shut. "This better be good. We drive half way across the country. Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest. For lying in bed reading the Sunday papers."

"For making day trips," Jack adds. He opens the door to the electronics store.

"I'm sure it's not for going shopping for a TV with your boss."

They walk up to the counter.

Owen taps on it with the flat of his hands to get the attention of the shopkeeper. "We're Torchwood. We phoned ahead about an old TV."

"That's right. It's in the back. I'll get it for you."

A few minutes later the man returns with the TV and puts it down on the counter. "Quite popular these old things all of a sudden. Sold two of them already this weekend."

"Do you know of any more TVs like this? Jack asks.

The shopkeeper shrugs. "Not really. I got those three a few years back. See that's what I do, I buy the stock of a shop that goes out of business. Didn't know what to do with these three; they don't even work anymore. Didn't have the heart to throw them away. Should have tried to flog them to a museum or something."

"We'll take this TV of your hands now." Jack grabs hold of the TV and lifts it off the counter.

The man puts a hand on the TV and presses it back down. "Not without paying for it you don't."

"We're Torchwood and we're impounding this TV as a matter of National Security."

"And I'm saying you're paying for it, as a matter of my financial security."

"Okay, how much?" Jack lets go of the TV and grabs his wallet.

"Because it's national security I will make the price as friendly as possible. Twenty pounds."

"Twenty pounds." Jack shakes his head and gives the shopkeeper the money. "For a TV that doesn't even work anymore." He grabs the TV and nods to Owen it's time to leave. "Unbelievable, that kid," he says as they walk to the door.

"What kid?" Owen glances back at the man behind the counter.

"That girl from yesterday. She made me pay fifty pounds for this TV."

"Kids these day, 'ey." Owen suppresses a chuckle. "Personally, I blame the parents."

"Yah." Jack thrusts the TV at Owen. "Hold this while I get the door."

-oOo-

The three TVs stand together in the storage room. Suzie has replaced the plugs on the other two TVs. Tommy's box stands on top of the TVs. Ianto and George are standing in a corner of the room.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Jack asks.

"For something I haven't been able to test I'm pretty sure," Tosh replies.

"What happens if it doesn't work?"

"I guess you'll be interviewing for a new teaboy."

Jack glares at Owen. "You'd better step outside before I change my mind about who is volunteering to switch this contraption on."

"I could still build in a remote," Tosh offers. "It would just take a bit more time. We'd have to make sure the Wire can't escape through the remote."

"And from what we've been able to find out about it, the Wire could very well escape through the signal of a remote," Suzie adds.

"Which only leaves the option that we seal of this room and one of us turns on the recorder manually," Jack summarizes their problem. "So, out you go."

Owen, Suzie and Tosh leave the room and close the door. A few moments later there is a knock on the door.

"Jack?" comes Tosh's voice. "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Jack turns around and starts up the generator. Then he switches on Tommy's box, after that the three TVs. Purple tendrils latch out from the TV at him. Jack backs away. He feels the electricity prickle on his skin. "It's not working!" he shouts. He tries to move to the generator to turn of the power, but the Wire is making him weak. Then he hears a wail and his face is released. He watches as all the purple beams are pulled into Tommy's box.

In the hall way Suzie screams and falls to the floor.

"What the hell?" Owen turns and wants to kneel down.

"Don't touch her, Owen." Tosh reaches out to pull him away. "I think she's been infected by the Wire.

"And that's doing that to her?"

"Tommy's box must be working." Tosh turns to the door and starts to strip away the insulation tape they had taped over the gaps between door and door frame.

"What are you doing?"

"If I'm right. Opening the door will allow the Wire to be pulled from Suzie into Tommy's box."

"And if you're wrong?"

Tosh looks at him. "Then we're all in trouble."

"Let's hope you're not wrong then."

Owen helps Tosh strip off the tape. Tosh throws open the door. Purple tendrils are pulled from Suzie into Tommy's box. Suzie stops screaming and lies still.

"Now can I touch her?"

"I guess." Tosh looks away as Owen moves to help Suzie up.

Jack grins at Tosh. "It looks like Tommy's box has worked."

Ianto and George have gotten their faces back. Jack turns off the equipment before he steps up to the two men. He jovially slaps Ianto on his back and shakes George's hand.

"Hello, George. Welcome to Torchwood."

"Thank you. Er, what am I doing here?"

"That's a long story."

Tosh ejects the videocassette from Tommy's box. "Should we storage this or destroy it?"

"Destroying sounds like a good idea," Owen says.

"I'm for that," Suzie adds. She takes the cassette from Tosh's hand and starts pulling the tape from it.

-oOo-

Jack overlooks the Hub. He's sent the others home. He walks down the stairs and picks up the container containing the Doctor's hand.

"So you've battled the Wire before, have you? Hate to say this, but you missed a spot." Jack puts the container down and grabs his coat. He heads up the stairs to go to the roof.


End file.
